Sunday, September 27, 2009
George S. Kaufman’s Plays Retain Their Sparkle
NYTimes.com: "AMONG the celebrated witticisms once witticized by the great George S. Kaufman is that snappy line about the short shelf life of a certain brand of comedy. “Satire is what closes on Saturday night,” he observed glumly after the humbling experience of having a new musical bomb in Philadelphia. After it had already bombed in Long Branch, N.J."
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I think one of the really interesting things about this article is that it brings to attention the tendency for satirical peices to go out of style. It is great that this is not happening for Kaufman's peices, but its a legitimate concern in todays theatrical world when looking to open a production. It can be difficult to know if the humor or sensibilities in the show are relevant today, or if the show maintains too many references to the world around its original inception. Occasionally you may also see playwrights avoiding satire to give their works longevity, which in a way loses the satire of todays world. The scale goes both ways.
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